Machine for forming continuous tobacco rods or fillers



March 3, 1942.

D. W. MOLINS MACHINE FOR FORMING CONTINUOUS TOBACCO RODS OR FILLERSFiled May 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l M; A wax,

March 3, 1942. D. w. MOLINS MACHINE FOR FORMING CONTINUOUS TOBACCO RODSOR FILLERS Filed May 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 3, 1942MACHINE FOR FORMING CON TINUOUS TOBACCO RODS OR FILLERS Desmond WalterMolins, Deptford, London, England, assignor to Molins Machine Company,

Limited, London,

England Application May 3, 1940, Serial No. 333,221 In Great Britain May10, 1939 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to machines forforming a continuous tobacco rod or filler, such for example as incontinuous rod cigarette making machines or in tobacco packagin machinesin which a continuous filler is formed of a larger cross-section than inthe previous case.

In prior United States application Serial No. 260,174 there is disclosedapparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler which comprises aconfining passage in which a stream of tobacco is compacted to thecross-section of the passage, a first conveyor wholly external to thepassage (e. g. a continuously movable conveyor) to feed a stream oftobacco into the passage, guides, including side guides movable in thesame direction as and at substantially the same speed as the conveyor,extending lengthwise of the first conveyor, said guides co-operatingwith the first conveyor substantially wholly to confine and to compressthe stream of tobacco to a cross-section smaller than that of thepassage and to control the stream so compressed up to or substantiallyup to the point at which it enters the confining passage, and a secondconveyor movable in the same general direction as and at a linear speedless than that of the first conveyor to move tobacco away from theoutlet of the confining passage, the length of said passage being suchas to extend on each side of the point. of compacting of the tobacco.

It is found that such constructions work in a quite satisfactory mannerfor long periods of time, but it sometimes happens that an obstructionmay occur in the garniture of a cigarette making machine to which suchapparatus is applied, the obstruction perhaps being caused by arelatively large piec of stem becoming jammed across the garniture underthe tongue and so preventing the regular flow of the tobacco out of theconfining passage. In such circumstances since tobacco is still beingfed towards the confining passage at a substantially uniform rate thereis a tendency for the tobacco in the passage gradually to build up moreand more towards the entrance to said passage.

If the obstruction is unduly persistent there will come a time when thebuilding up or packing takes place at a point before the entrance tosaid passage is reached, that is, packing takes place near the end ofthe first conveyor. If this should happen there is a tendency for theapparatus to become choked due to the fact that the conveyor runsbetween side guides which converge rapidly towards the confiningpassage.

It will be appreciated that if the tobacco is compacting in this mannerthe tobacco is no longer confined in a passage of substantially constantcross-section and the tobacco tends to spread across the first conveyorand is soon packed into a solid mass. If ,thischoking is not quicklynoticed the tobacco conveyor may be broken or otherwise injured, or thepressure of the tobacco due to the jamming may tend to cause the variousparts of the mechanism to be dislodged, thus necessitating there-setting of the apparatus.

By the present invention it is proposed to provide a safety device tominimize the disadvantageous efiects due to choking, and this object isachieved by arranging that in apparatus of the kind referred to abovethe top and side Walls (or one of them) of the confining passage canyield under excessive pressure built up by the tobacco when anobstruction occurs and by the provision of guides on that side of thepassage from which the tobacco enters the passage, the guides being soarranged as to control the tobacco entering the passage against lateralspreading to an extent such as to enable the entering tobacco to createsufiicient pressure in the passage, if a jam occurs, to move theyieldable walls and allow the tobacco to escape. The guides arepreferably arranged as plates between the side guides between which theend of the first conveyor runs and ar ranged in continuation of theupstanding sides of the U formed by said first conveyor band andextending towards the confining passage. The additional guides need notproject downwardly so far as to engage the bottom of the first conveyorband, but their depth must be sufiicient to ensure that the compressedtobacco stream is adequately guided by them. These additional guides maybe arranged to diverge slightly towards the bridge piece.

The top and side walls of the confiining passage may be made in onepiece which is freely pivoted to supports secured to the bed of thecigarett making machine. If, now, anobstruction is persistent and doesnot clear itself in time, then the excess of pressure by the tobaccowill cause the upper part of the confining passage to turn about itspivot, thus within the confining passage. When the upper part of theconfining passage turns about its pivot the tobacco escapes laterally.The operator is at once made aware of the fact that a jam is occurringand can immediately stop the machine and remove the cause of theobstruction.

It should be understood that the addition of the guides at the inletside of the confining pasreleasing the pressure sage and the yieldablewall or walls of the confining passage are only intended to function asa safety device in case of an obstruction in the garniture. Suchobstructions usually occur under the conical tongue piece, and thepressure due to the choke then'builds back past the confining passage.The guides according to this invention then control the tobaccosufficiently to prevent it from spreading laterally and to enable it topush open the yieldable wall or walls and so escape. The parts are inall cases so arranged that for normal conditions of operation compactingis effected in a confining passage in accordance with the inventiondescribed and claimed in United States application Serial No. 260,174.

The invention will be more fully described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which show a construction generally similar tothat shown in Figure 6 of the earlier United States specificationreferred to above.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of apparatus for forming a continuoustobacco filler.

Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section of Figure 1 on the line 3-3.

Figure 4 is a section of Figure 1 on the line 3-4.

Parts which are similar in the drawings to those in the specificationreferred to bear the same references.

Referring to the drawings, tobacco is fed by any suitable tobaccofeeding mechanism and is showered so as to be directed downwardly on tothe surface of a first conveyor 8 comprising a continuously movableendless band. The shower of tobacco extends along the length of thefirst conveyor. The tobacco receiving portion of the first conveyor issupported by a stationary rigid member comprising a trough 'l' which isso arranged that the endless band 6 is folded by the walls of the troughto substantially U form. The upstanding limbs of the endless band 6 formguides for the stream of tobacco which is formed on the first conveyorby tobacco particles: received from the shower of tobacco.v

When the tobacco has been received by the first conveyor 6, it is movedthereby away from the hopper or the tobacco feeding mechanism and abovethe first conveyor there is provided a top guide comprising a shoe fitwith which cooperates a rotatable wheel 91 to ensure that the tobaccopasses under the shoe 99.

The shoe and wheel are disposed above the first conveyor at a distancesuch that a given portion of the tobacco stream on the first conveyor 6is subjected to a compression which is applied laterally of thedirection of movement of the stream by the co-operation of the U shapedfirst conveyor and the shoe and wheel. Thus the tobacco is subjected toa continuous compression for the purpose of obtaining the necessaryrigidity of the tobacco to enable it to enter a confining passage it,described later, in its compressed state.

The compressed stream of tobacco is fed by the first conveyor 6 and itsco-operating moving guides into a confining passage if! in which thetobacco is compacted in the direction of movement thereof toacross-section determined by the walls of the confining passage. Asecond conveyor ii is provided to move the tobacco from the outlet ofthe confining passage, and thesecond conveyor moves at a linear speedwhich is less than that at which the first conveyor 6 is moving. In theconstruction shown, the second conveyor l l comprises an endless web ofcigarette paper which passes over a roller I2 and which is supported byan endless band 13 which latter co-operates with folding mechanism, notshown, arranged to fold the paper web about the continuous tobaccofiller supported thereby, Preferably the first conveyor ii is moved at asufficiently high speed in relation to the second conveyor ll that themass of tobacco on the first conveyor 6 is at all points orsubstantially all points below the desired mass. When using some modernexisting tobacco feeding mechanism it is found that a difference of 20%between the speeds of the first and second conveyors respectively willgive the above result. The tobacco feeding mechanismis of coursearranged to feed a sufficient quantity of tobacco to form a continuoustobacco filler of the desired mass on the second conveyor.

Since the tobacco carried by the first conveyor 6 is transferred to aslower moving conveyor (i. e. the second conveyor H), the momentum ofthe tobacco is reduced, The confining passage Ii! through which thetobacco passe-s is so arranged that the momentum of the tobacco isreduced in the passage and the length of the confining passage is,considered in the direction of movement of the tobacco therethrough, sochosen that the passage extends on either side of the point ofcompacting of the tobacco, since the point of compacting varies due tothe fact that the compressed stream of tobacco fed into the confiningpassage is at some points of greater mass than at other points.

It will be understood that since the compacting is to be effected in theconfining passage it after the tobacco has left the first conveyor, itis necessary that the tobacco be given sufiicient rigidity to enablecompacting to occur in the passage, that is to say, that the tobacco besubjected to a compression which will enable the tobacco to retain itscompressed state until it is f actually inside the passage before anymaterial lateral expansion occurs, Thus the tobacco is compressed and iscontrolled in its compressed state up to or substantially up to theconfining passage so that it may be said to be pushed into the passageat the faster speed to enable the compacting to be effected inside thepassage.

To enable the first conveyor '6 and its cooperating moving guideslaterally to compress the stream of tobacco on the first conveyor andcontrol the compressed stream up to or substantially up to the point atwhich the compressed stream enters the confining passage, thearrangement of the mechanism is such that the roller it around whichtheconveyor '6 passes and the end it of the shoe are positioned as closelyas possible to the inlet of the confining passage, see Figure 1.

Between the end of the confining passage and the roller it there isprovided a bridge piece It over which the tobacco stream pass-es fromthe first conveyor 6 into the inlet of the confining passage NJ. A pairof short stationary guides 24 which diverge very slightly towards thebridge iii are provided to guide the tobacco stream over the bridge Itas the conveyor E flattens out over the roller 'Hi. The length of thebridge piece it is reduced to the minimum possible.

In the construction shown, the second conveyor l 1 comprises the wholeof the bottom wall of the confining passage.

In the construction described above'it is found that there is aconsiderable amount of heating of the endless band 6 andof the metalparts I and 90 with which the band engages. To reduce the heatingreferred to, water is circulated through apertures formed in the troughI. As shown in the drawings, cool Water enters a passage 25 in thetrough I through a pipe 26 and passes out of the passag 25 through a pip21. A pump, not shown, of any suitable form is provided to circulate thewater.

The tobacco stream before being fed into the confining passage iscompressed to a cross-sectional size which is smaller than thecross-sectional size of the passage by the co-operation of the firstconveyor and guides which extend lengthwise of the first conveyor, andthe tobacco so compressed is controlled up to or substantially up to thepoint at which it enters the confining passage. By reason of the factthat these cooperating guides extend lengthwise of the first conveyoreach portion of the tobacco stream will be subjected to a compressingaction over a relatively long period of time (that is to say, althoughthe time is only a fraction of a second, it is nevertheless a relativelylong time in comparison with the time in which a roller could apply asimilar compressive force) and that fact, together with the fact thatthe first conveyor is wholly external to the confining passage, makes itpossible to ensure that the tobacco is compacted at all times underconditions which are the same. This controlled compression gives thetobacco sufficient rigidity to enable it to effect the compactingagainst the slower moving tobacco moving outwardly from the passage, andmakes it possible to ensure that the compacting of the tobacco in theconfining passage will, when the ma chine is operating correctly, takeplace on the paper web. That is to say, at whatever portion of thepassage the tobacco is compacted by a change in speed, the conditionswill remain the same, that is, there will be three stationary walls andthe bottom wall will be a wall moving at a constant speed,

The description given in the preceding paragraph relates to the normaloperation of the apparatus, but as stated in the beginning of thespecification, an obstruction in the garniture may occur at times andupset the correct working of the apparatus. For this reason there isprovided a safety device consisting of a pair of guides I and apivotally mounted member IN. The top and side walls of the confiningpassage I0 are constituted by a groove, see Figure 3, in the member IOI.severe cases can lift to relieve the pressure on the tobacco. Theoperators attention will thus be drawn to the fault in the machine. Theguides I00 provide sufiicient resistance to lateral spreading of thetobacco on the conveyor 6 in the event of an obstruction causing thetobacco to pack up beyond the entrance of the confining passage, toenable the tobacco to retain a certain amount of rigidity which will besufficient to apply enough energy to lift the member IM and so allow thetobacco to escape before it can choke on the conveyor 6 and injure thelatter. By keeping the bottom of the guides I00 away from the surface ofthe band 6, friction is reduced and further, when the member IOI hasbeen lifted in the case of a jam, tobacco can escape below the guidesI00 and so tend to reduce the extent to which packing might otherwiseoccur on the band 6. The machine can continue to run with the tobaccoescaping thus without further dam- This is pivoted at I02 and in agingthe machine or any bands, although of course it is not desirable toallow the machine to continue to run in that state.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler, comprising aconfining passage in which a stream of tobacco is compacted to thecrosssection of the passage, means wholly external to the passage tofeed a stream of tobacco into the passage and arranged substantiallywholly to confine and to compress the stream of tobacco to across-section smaller than that of the passage, said means retainingsaid tobacco so compressed substantially up to the point where thetobacco enters the confining passage and means to move the tobacco awayfrom the outlet of the confining passage at a linear speed less thanthat at which it is fed into the passage, the length of said passagebeing such as to extend on each side of the point of compacting of thetobacco, said passage comprising stationary top and side walls, theapparatus being so constructed and arranged that at least one of thesaid walls of the confining passage can yield under excessive pressurebuilt up by the tobacco when an obstruction occurs, and guide elementslocated on that side of the passage from which the tobacco enters thepassage to control the tobacco entering the passage against lateralspreading to an extent such as to enable the entering tobacco to createsufficient pressure in the passage if a jam occurs to move saidyieldable wall and allow the tobacco to escape.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said guides form part ofthe stream feeding means to form a channel of smaller cross-section thanthe confining passage.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide elements divergeslightly in the direction of movement of the stream of tobacco.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top and side walls ofthe passage are made in one piece which is freely pivoted;

5. Apparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler having a confiningpassage comprising stationary top and side walls in which a stream oftobacco is compacted to the cross-section of the passage, a firstconveyor wholly external to the passage to feed a stream of tobacco intothe passage, guides, including side guides movable in the same directionas and at substantially the same speed as the conveyor, extendinglengthwise of the first conveyor and co-operating with the firstconveyor substantially wholly to confine and to compress the stream oftobacco to a crosssection smaller than that of the passage and tocontrol the stream so compressed substantially up to the point at whichit enters the confining passage, a second conveyor movable in the samegeneral direction as and at a linear speed less than that of the firstconveyor to move the tobacco away from the outlet of the confiningpassage, the length of said passage being such as to extend on each sideof the point of compacting of the tobacco, at least one of saidstationary walls being arranged to yield under excessive pressure builtup by the tobacco when an obstruction occurs, and guides located on thatside of the passage from which the tobacco enters the passage to controlthe tobacco entering the passage against lateral spreading to an extentsuch as to enable the entering tobacco to create sufficient pressure inthe passage, if a jam occurs,

to move said yieldable wall and allow the tobacco to escape.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein a guide is opposed to thesurface of the first conveyor and comprises a member having a stationarytobacco engaging surface.

'7. Apparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler, comprising aconfining passage in which stream 'of' tobacco is compacted to thecross-section of the passage, means wholly external to the passage tofeed a stream of tobacco into the passage and arranged substantiallywholly to confine and to compress the stream of tobacco to across-section smaller than that of the passage, and arranged to retainsaid tobacco so compressed substantially up to the point where thetobacco enters the confining passage, said means including a conveyorhaving a tobacco receiving surface of substantially U form, and means tomove the tobacco away from the outlet of the confining passage at alinear speed less than that at which it is fed into the passage, thelength of said passage being such as to extend on each side of the pointof compacting of the tobacco, said passage comprising stationary top andside walls, the apparatus being so constructed and arranged that atleast one of the said walls of the confining passage can yield underexcessive pressure built up by the tobacco when an obstruction occurs,and guide elements located on that side of the passage from which thetobacco enters the passage to control the tobacco entering the passageagainst lateral spreading to an extent such as to enable the enteringtobacco to create sufficient pressure in the passage ifa jam occurs tomove said yieldable wall and allow the tobacco to escape.

8. Apparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler, comprising aconfining passage in which a stream of tobacco is compacted to thecross-section of the passage, an endless conveyor band wholly externalto the passage to feed a stream of tobacco into the passage, means tofold the tobacco receiving surface of the conveyor band to substantiallyU form, a stationary guide disposed between the upstanding limbs of saidU and which extends lengthwise of the conveyor band and co-operatestherewith substantially wholly to confine and to compress the stream oftobacco to a cross-section smaller than that of the passage and tocontrol the stream so compressed substantially up to the point at whichit enters the confining passage, and a second conveyor movable in thesame general direction as and at a linear speed less than that of saidconveyor band to move the tobacco away from the outlet of the confiningpassage, the length of said passage being such as to extend on each sideof the point of compacting of the tobacco, said passage comprisingstationary top and side walls, the apparatus being so constructed andarranged that at least one of the said walls of the confining passagecan yield under excessive pressure built up by the tobacco when anobstruction occurs, and guide elements located on that side of thepassage from which the tobacco enters the passage to control the tobaccoentering the passage against lateral spreading to an extent such as toenable the entering tobacco to create sufiicient pressure in the passageif a jam occurs to move said yieldable wall and allow the tobacco toescape.

9. Apparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler, as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the means to feed a stream of tobacco into the passagecomprises a conveyor and wherein the means retaining the tobaccocompressed up to the point where the tobacco enters the confiningpassage extend continuously along a relatively long portion of theconveyor and co-operate with the conveyor substantially to enclose andto subject the tobacco stream thereon to a high compression, and whereinguides having passages formed therein co-act with said means andconveyor, and wherein there is provided circulating means to circulate acooling fluid through the passages in said guides.

10. Apparatus for forming a continuous tobacco filler, as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the means to feed a stream of tobacco into the passagecomprises an endless conveyor band and wherein, a guide folds thetobacco receiving surface of the band to U form, and wherein astationary member having a continuous tobacco engaging surface extendsalong a relatively long portion of the band and cooperates therewithsubstantially to enclose and to subject the tobacco stream to a highcompression, said guide having a passage formed therein, and whereincirculating means is arranged to circulate a cooling fluid through thepassages in said guide.

past/[0ND WALTER MoL INs.

